County video introduces Quartermaine to the public on his first day of work
Aug. 11 marked the first day at work for the director of Sarasota County Government’s new Stormwater Department, Ben Quartermaine.
As a means of formally introducing him to the public, the county’s Communications staff released a video lasting slightly less than 4 minutes, with Quartermaine offering comments about his background and his plans as he embarks on this next stage of his career.
“The highest priority right now,” he explained, “is transparency and sharing the data that we have.” His goal, he said, is to make certain that county residents — and his county government colleagues — “understand what is going on, what the plans are,” as well as the schedule for initiatives. He made it clear that he wants the public to hold him and his team “to task to meet or exceed the schedules.”
“I have to keep water out of the houses. I have to keep water off of evacuation routes,” Quartermaine continued. “We know that.”
A major part of the stormwater work, he indicated, will be to “get a handle on sediment; get a handle on maintenance that we really haven’t done to the degree that’s necessary, in the past.”
Beginning in January, the County Commission began hearing from a multitude of residents, especially those who live along Phillippi Creek, about their repeated experiences with flooding during the 2024 hurricane season, beginning with Tropical Storm Debby in early August 2024.
Residents demanded action from the commissioners and county staff to eliminate sediment that had built up in the creek, which exacerbated the flooding from storm surge. (See the related article in this issue.)
Commissioners Tom Knight and Teresa Mast have pointed out, though, that Phillippi Creek is just one body of water whose problems need to be addressed.
In the video, Quartermaine talked about the fact that his focus will be countywide; he mentioned Alligator Creek and North Creek, as well as Phillippi Creek.
In fact, a comment on the posting of the video on the county’s Facebook page said, “Please remember S Venice near Alligator Creek.”
“Sediment collects over time,” Quartermain said. “It needs to be managed, moving forward. … There’s areas all throughout the county … experiencing sedimentation issues, and it’s been clear they are a problem, and we need to address it.”
On July 7, when county staff issued a news release announcing that Quartermaine had been hired as the new Stormwater Department director, that release explained that he had spent most of the past seven years as a stormwater project manager with the Stantec consulting firm in Sarasota.
“Ben’s deep technical knowledge, passion for water resource conservation and proven leadership make him the ideal person to head our stormwater efforts,” said County Administrator Jonathan Lewis in the release. “We are confident his expertise and leadership will prepare us for the future.”
In the Aug. 11 video, Quartermaine noted that he has been a county resident for most of his life. “My family’s here; my friends are here.”
He is a 1990 graduate of Riverview High School, he added. “I’m a product of the Sarasota County Schools.”
He also is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, he said.
Over the past 25 years, Quartermaine continued, he mostly has worked locally, handling watershed management planning and building stormwater models.
As a young engineer, he pointed out, he did work for the county — “building modeling” and learning about the local hydrology.
He also worked on part of the design of the Celery Fields Stormwater Management Area, Quartermaine noted. (The Aug. 11 video was shot at the Celery Fields.)
Another point that Quartermaine made in the video — very early on — is that “one of the things I’m most looking forward to in my new role is the opportunity to craft policy and procedure for stormwater maintenance,” for the present and the future.